Spanish speaking?

[RK]

Who out there can speak spanish ..... has it come easy?
Ive been in south and central America a few times but it's a long road .... heading  back to colombia early next if all goes well and hoping to meet my special friend

[traveler]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

luckily they didn't honor my request.

I also asked a guy if he keeps sh!t in his house instead of wood.

I asked a waitress "if she took pain" rather than if she took dollars.

I learned by the immersion principle.  with only one quarter of college Spanish behind me, I went to live in Latin America.

living Spanish is by far the fastest way to learn it.  having a Spanish-only speaking girlfriend also is helpful.

[Ralph]

... in response to I once asked for a cup of snot instead o..., posted by traveler on May 12, 2001

If emailing a lady and you still don't know thw secret handshake to eget an ñ from your keyboard, you might have a problem.

I once emailed a girl and asked her "cuantos anos tu tienes"? Without the ñ it becomes a much more personal question;-) She answered "solamente uno"!

[FredFresno]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

What’s worked for me so far (which isn’t very far) are these items, in this order:
1.  The Pimsleur language program.
2.  Three weeks of immersion training.
3.  Classwork in the local community college.
4.  Exposure in daily life.

The Pimsleur course comprises 90 hours of exercises on the three sets of 15 CDs.  The format is that you’re asked a question in Spanish, given time to repeat the question and answer it, and then hear the answer in Spanish.   It’s great for working on pronunciation.  The Spanish announcer is a native speaker, and you’re going over a limited vocabulary a lot.  The lessons are 30 minutes each, so it works really well if you have a commute of 30 minutes or longer to and from work.  The main downside is that there is no formal explanation of grammar or verb forms.  The student is apparently supposed to get this by gestalt.  It wasn’t as much of a disadvantage for me, since I’d had Spanish in high school.  If you’ve never had Spanish, some other book would be a useful adjunct for this course.

The advantage of immersion training is obvious.  The disadvantage is that it requires you to put your regular life on hold for an extended period of time.  

Based on what I’ve seen, community college courses have distinct disadvantages but are better then nothing.  I would presume that most who are out of college and working would be taking night classes.  The main disadvantage is that the instructor is trying to deal with 25-30 people at once, and these classes are addition to his/her day job.  Another disadvantage is that some of your fellow students are likely to be less-than-gifted students, and to slow the class down.  Even if the instructor is a native speaker, as mine is, he’s too busy dealing with more fundamental issues and a large number of students to give pointers on pronunciation.  On the other hand, the situation with community college courses is probably variable from place to place, so the quality of classes where you live is probably a matter of luck.

Daily life?  I’m near the border between a couple of counties.  Supposedly hispanics comprise 65% of the population in the county to the south, and 70% in the town where I live.  So you suppose it would be easy to get people to help you with practicing Spanish, right?  Not necessarily, in my experience.  I’ve been coming into Fresno to get my hair cut in a barbershop where mostly Spanish is spoken, and some of the staff speak little English.  I didn’t start out going there for language practice, but it’s worked out well.  I’ve also gotten a little help with finding language practice partners from the community college ESL staff.  I don’t have a TV so I don’t watch telenovelas unless I’m staying in a hotel, but there are some radio programs I find helpful.  One particular program is “Doctora Isabel” on Radio Unica.  People should be able to pick that up most places in the states, since they supposedly have coverage “de costa a costa y de frontera a frontera”.  Doctora Isabel is an advice mogul, “para millones, el angel de la radio”.  It’s great for listening practice because the usual topics (sex, relationships, child rearing) come up over and over again, meaning the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive.  The callers often speak slowly because they’re distraught, and doctora Isabel generally speaks slowly because she’s trying to be soothing or to be understood by distraught callers.

[Meisme]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

I've been studying spanish with a couple computer courses for about eight months or so.  I have been consistant.

I think taking a formal class would be better, quicker.
But you can learn a lot, and I have, over these eight months just using computer programs.

I can communicate on my terms , but understanding replies is very difficult. With effort and co-oporation from a spanish speaking friend I am able to get "by".

Good luck!

Doug

[TexRob]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

RK You may want to try the interactive software by the Learning Company.  I live in Texas and have several Mexican friends here and in Mexico.  I have picked up a little spanish along the way but using this software everyday I am gaining ground.  It uses voice regonition and you are actually involved in conversations with a video person.  By the way do not buy the software product by Microsoft.  I bought it first and then gave it away.  I plan to make my first trip to Colombia soon and I hope to be able to carry on a simple conversation.

[denvermike]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

Hi Guys,

Just thought I would put in my two cents worth. Learning Spanish or any language for that matter is a life time effort.  It has kind of become one of my hobbies. I studied Spanish in junior high and high school but I did't really use it for about 20 years.  So, naturally I forgot a bunch. But I did remember most of the basic grammar and proper pronunciation guides. I started working and living in South America about 10 years year ago, so I had to brush up on my Spanish. It has taken a lot of work, but I doubt if I will ever be totally fluent unless I move to SA for several years. The only way to really learn is to totally immerse yourself in the day to day language.  That is not easy by the way, you will find yourself burned out at times and your brain shuts down.

I think you need some basic formal class work to get an understanding of the proper pronunciatation and rules of grammar. But for me the key is establishing a basic vocabulary (of least 2 or 3 thousand words) so that you can communicate. I can usually get my point across: however, at times I can't understand what someone is telling me if they are speaking too rapidly or using too much slang. I have to focus on what they are saying, I can't just listen in the background and do something else like I can do in English.

Once you have the basic pronunciation down, reading in Spanish (newpapers, books or just anything) is a great way to pickup new words.  But in order to sound better you need to pick up the casual language as well as the more formal language of books. I like to listen in on people's conversation to pick up on informal phases and the like. This is a great way to train your ear also.  If you have to translate into English before you understand you will not be able to follow a conversation for long.  I also practice my ear by watching movies in Spanish (no subtitles) for as long as I can concentrate on the words. At first you may not understand much, but bit by bit you will understand more and more.

Remember, there is something like 14 tenses in Spanish but you don't need to speak all of them to be understood. At first if you use only the present tense, people will understand you (they may smile a bit).  Once you have the present tense the future is quite easy.  Then you can learn the past tenses, conditional and so on. If you try to use all the tenses at first you will likely freeze up.  

I also suggest that you pick up some of the more profane side of Spanish.  There are several good books that discuss the words your Spanish teacher would never tell you. It is very easy to mispronounce some words in an obscene way. So watch out!

Also, keep in mind that each country speaks Spanish somewhat differently. You may have to get use to the different speech patterns and accents. For example, Spanish in Spain sounds quite a bit different than Spanish in Chile.

So anyway, work at it about 15 minutes every day and you will be amazed how much you can learn.

mike

[Edge]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

I have been studying Spanish for the last year and a half at night school.  I took 2-3 years of Spanish in high school but I soon forgot most of it.  Now that I have gone back, I find that my high school years helped alot with pronounciation.  I am not fluent, but I can hold a good conversation.  I would love to get to where I am fluent and can understand someone when they are talking rapidly, like on most televison shows.  9 times out 10, when my instructors are talking, I can understand what they are saying.  Of course speaking is the real test.  I think it is a beautiful language and I look forward to continuing to learn.

I think my learning to speak Spanish was very important for my relationship with my girlfriend.  We could communicate one on one.  Now, since she is really focusing on learning English, we mostly speak English so she can practice.  But there are many times where we go to Spanish to communicate if it something she does not understand in English.  I can also help her to learn English because she can tell me what she wants to say in Spanish.  Being able to speak Spanish meant that our relationship was more indepedent. I know that she appreciated my effort in learning her language.

There are many roads on this journey and many branches in the road.  Anyone serious about this is going to have to face the fact that most of these ladies do not speak English.  You are going to have decide whether you want to put forth the effort to learn the language.  I think if you decide not to, you are losing out.  You lose the ability to communicate with your woman in her native language and you lose a feel for her culture.  I also like to be able to talk to her parents in their language.  There is no way they are going to learn English.  What is one of the most important elements of a good relationship?  The ability to communicate well.  I highly recommend taking the harder road and start learning to speak Spanish right away.  

It is a challenge, but I hope most of you guys are up to it.

[Sancho]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

I cant say its easy nor hard, it depends on the person, some people are more perceptive than others and can pick up on things/languages more quickly than others, I picked up spanish phrases/words to get by in my teens upon my roadtrips throughout LA in the 80s and shortly after I was offered a great job that required studying/learning fluent spanish and living in northern Mexico, upon my arrival before starting my job I settled in and began to date and make lots of Mexican friends whom have no english background so it was sink or swim and I was forced to speak what I could speak in spanish and battle to read my local newspaper in spanish etc, within a month my spanish was blossoming to the point where my employer told me to blow off the spanish classes I was planning on and I was able to start work and continue to perfect my spanish at the same time and the rest is history!
If one really wants to learn spanish, YES one will easily, NO is not an option, just speak what you can speak and add to it and like everything earned in life there are no shortcuts in the process and if you want to communicate, live, love, and stand out with high respect and success in LA or among latinos and make the latinas eyes glow there is nothing more impressive and respected than a courteous gringo speaking fluent spanish!  Best regards! ....Sancho

[Michael B]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

Ha, I beat all those guys, I majored in Spanish in college (40 some odd hours), I taught it once in H.S. and in a local Jr. College. I studied 1 semester at UNAM (National Autonomus University of Mexico), worked for the State Department for 2 years with the Marielito Cubans, was married to a Costa Rican for 16 years and STILL can't understand Patricia Fernandez when she get mad!

[Traveler]

... in response to Re: Spanish speaking?, posted by Michael B on May 6, 2001

then translate this:

un dia estaba andando con una guaricha, y yo le dije que me comprara un octavo  de mamajuana.  pues, la chamaquita hizo lo que yo le dije que hicera.  despues de tragar esa, yo estaba arrastrando por la cuneta.

el otro dia siendo lunes, tuve que trabajar.  sabes que estoy bien ajetreado.  el cacique del trabajo sospechaba que yo viniera al trabajo aplastado y inicio una pesquisa contra mi.

muchacho, no le caigo bien al cacique, y me quiere pasar por la piedra.  pues antes de que fuera despedido, decidi' irme solo.  entonces yo le dije. "vete al carajo mamabicho",  y yo me fui marchando

bueno sin chavo, no sabia que hacer, entonces llame' mi pana en santo domingo.  me invito ir alla. bueno, me arranque' a santo domingo y el pana mio me recogio' en su guagua.  

fuimos a un bar donde conocimos 2 pavitas venezolanas a las invitamos comer sancocho prieto.  que culos tenian!!!  una era trigue~nita y la otra una carite.  pues terminamos bailando en un discoteca, y yo chiche' la mia al justo en el medio de la pista de baile.

ellas pasaron la noche con nosotros y  despertamos temprano para comer mangu'.  

bueno las chamas salieron, y mi pana me dijo, "como fue la vaina anoche."  "bien cabron" respondi'    "que clase de jevas no?" , le dije.

bueno Michael creo que es suficiente no??

[Reagan]

... in response to Re: Spanish speaking?, posted by Michael B on May 6, 2001

Who did you beat? What contest was it? Did you win a ribbon?

Cheers

Reagan

[JunFan68]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

I studied Spanish for 4 years in HS and 2 semesters in College.  But until I went to Colombia last year, I had rarely used it.  My fiancee always sent her emails in Spanish, so I would look up words I didn't understand.  I also bought a level 2 textbook just to give me something usefull to do while I'm on the jon.  It helps refresh the conjugations and gives some new vocab.  After about a year of this, plus 3 trips down there, tons of phone calls with her....I can pretty much communicate with anyone down there, although I sound like a Texas Gringo with broken spanish...lol.

Later,
Mike

[Reagan]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

Speaking Spanish is the one thing I can do, (kind of rare for a white boy even in the American Southwest where I live), but I started learning it about 14 years ago. It also helps that my Dad lives in Mexico and I have spent 9 of the last sixteen months in Puerto Rico. I would suggest that you take a class if you haven't already. There are also a couple of indespensable books out there. One of them is 501 Spanish Verbs, the other is just a good dictionary. I built my fluency by reading Spanish newspapers out loud. If I would come to a word I did not know, I would look it up. You also need to find a native speaker to practice with. As far as verbs are concerned, if you master all the tenses of ser, estar, ir, and haber, you will have a good start.

Cheers

Reagan

[Patrick]

... in response to Spanish speaking?, posted by RK on May 6, 2001

I've had 15 semester units at a junior college and a few years of part-time practice.  Basically, it's not intellectually difficult, but it takes a lot of hard work to learn a language well.  I'm not fluent.  I think you have to live in the language for that.  I can communicate well in written Spanish, but I miss some, or a lot, in conversation depending on the pronounciation of the speaker, how fast they're speaking, and how much slang they use.

I would very much encourage you to sign up for classes rather than try the typical Barns & Noble tourist type Spanish books.  I learned far more in the structured disciplined environment of a class room with a native Spanish instructor than I ever did on my own.  Most colleges offer evening classes.  A little study on your own generally teaches you far too little to actually have a meaningful conversation, unless you consider "Donde esta el baño?" (Where is the bathroom?) to be conversation.